The Ministry of Steel is planning to set up ultra mega steel plants (UMSPs) on fast track in mineral-rich states.
The ministry is considering a proposal by its joint plant committee to set up 8-10 mt capacity UMSPs in mineral-rich Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
In light of rising demand-supply gap and failure of mega projects to come up due to regulatory and other hurdles, the move may be in the right direction. A proposal by the joint plant committee for setting up UMSPs includes a Steel Finance Corporation (SFC), on the pattern of Power Finance Corporation, to address the financial needs of such plants. Each of the such plants, to be built on fast track basis using super critical technology, may cost in the range of Rs 40,000-50,000 crore, the official said.
A high-level panel, headed by Steel Secretary PK Misra, may look into the various aspects of proposals. Once the proposal is cleared, the ministry will begin the process of identifying projects, land acquisition, coal and ore linkages, water availability etc before bidding out the projects.
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